Its Okay [IO, NK]

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, the kunoichi closed her eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the tranquility of the village. Sure, it was nice being back in Konoha, but the urge to go back to Sunagakure was (still) there. Oh well; its okay, she can go back soon... hopefully—well if she doesn't die. Today, the girl was heading towards a nearby cafe. The purpose? In order to meet her students, of course. She has already informed the three genin regarding the location and the time of the meeting. Circling her head, she would flip through the papers in the folder she was holding. It contained information regarding a certain genin, who was assigned to her just recently. Talking about recent events, she just recently found out the news regarding Jin Yamanaka: Word has it that he passed away due to a heart attack. A small sigh escaped passed her mouth. It was like deja vu. The girl reminisced back in the day when she was still a genin.. to the day when she found out about the death of her (first) sensei. Although she was not particularly close to him, it was a sad ending and one that she never expected. Same goes to her second sensei—quite unexpected and another sad ending. Another sigh escaped past her lips. It seemed as if the girl was a jinx when it comes to these sort of things. Licking her lips, she gripped the folder in her hand and increased her pace.

Upon arrival at the cafe, she sat on a seat at a table near the window. The cafe was (surprisingly) quite empty; there were only a couple of people here and there. The cafe didn't really give off its usual energetic vibe, but thats okay—the kunoichi herself would rather have her surroundings be calm on that particular day. Peering out of the window, looking out for any signs of Kisuke and Kotsuzui, Ayumi would lean back into her seat and flipped through the pages in the folder which was sitting on her lap. Hmm... another Uchiha so it seems. Kaze Uchiha. Well. Snapping the folder shut, she placed it on the table, not bothering to read the rest of the information written on the papers. Smoothing out the wrinkles on her dark shirt, the girl pulled down her shorts slightly as she crosses her legs. Looking outside once again, the kunoichi would fix her bangs; she wasn't wearing her headband as per usual.

Kotsuzui was on his way to the cafe that was to be the setting for another meeting with his team. Hands behind his head, wearing his black kimono and nothing on his feet, the crimson haired Kaguya slowly made his way over, somewhat hungover of course. It had been a while since the whole team had gotten together for a meeting. Now that he thought of it, Kotsuzui had not seen both Ayumi-Sensei and Jin in a while. Maybe this meeting was due for a good time. "Maybe we'll get some training in, kick some ass again" The Kaguya said to himself as a slight grin slipped across his face.

In a matter of moments Kotsuzui stepped into the cafe and looked around before spotting Ayumi sitting near a window. "It's been a while Ayumi-Sensei" Kotsuzui blurted as he walked up to the table. Grabbing a chair, Kotsuzui turned it around and sat down so that back rest was in front of him as he placed his arms across the top. Since they were the only one there, small talk seemed necessary in order to wait out the others from arriving. "What's good, where have you been?" Kotsuzui asked before spotting the book place on the table. "What's with the book, I thought we made our introductions already?" the Kaguya asked, not too sure what to make of the book. Maybe it was something she always carried around with her.240/240

With squinted eyes to shade out the sun, Kisuke flicked the remains of his cigarette onto the ground just outside the doors of the cafe he had been told to come to. Only the second team meeting, the young Uchiha wondered what was on the menu for today. Stepping over the cigarette and twisting his foot a couple of times to put it out, Kisuke would pop a few mints into his mouth before stepping in. Plunging his hands into the depths of his usual black leather jacket, Kisuke would take a few steps in before coming to a halt and looking around. The place was dead as could be therefore he easily spotted those who had arrived from his team. Kisuke would turn and proceed towards them, cool and calm as he slowly pulled out and chair and relaxingly took up a comfortable seating position. Slightly slouched in the chair with his arms crossed and legs stretched out forward Kisuke would say will a little nod as he looked at each of them in turn "Ayumi Sensei, Kots." Figuring they were now waiting for Jin, who he hadent seen in quite a while now, Kisuke silently sat and fumbled around with the mints in his mouth while listening to the on going conversation Kotsuzui and Ayumi were having.

Kaze calmly walked through the village towards his destination, a cafe as it turned out. One might imagine that the boy would be nervous or anxious but he was neither, instead he was relaxed. The letter he had received had three names on it, one a stranger, another an Uchiha, and the last name had been Kotsuzui Kaguya, a friend. Meeting new people was something the boy enjoyed but it wasn't something he would get riled up over. Too much of anything is a bad thing, even good things like excitement can be bad when taken too far.

A soft breeze met him at the door rustling his already wild white hair and the long sleeved black shirt he wore as he entered the cafe. It was nearly empty, something that rarely the case in a place like this, the citizens of the village liked to enjoy themselves as well as the shinobi, but occasionally things were slow. He quickly scanned the few faces that were in the cafe until his eyes fell upon three figures, one being Kotsuzui, the second a young woman, and red haired male. Kaze offered a slight bow once he reached the table addressing the woman first, "Ayumi-Sensei and I'm guessing you're Kisuke? I'm Kaze Uchiha. It's nice to meet you both." Kaze's eyes flashed with humor in the instance he looked at the Kaguya remembering their spar, it had been a fun time. "How's it going Kotsuzui?" Pulling up a chair the boy realized his entrance had been a little out of his character. Oh well, he was trying to be more respectful towards his elders and it appeared he was the youngest here.

Whilst waiting for the genin to arrive, Ayumi had been rehearsing the things that she will say to them : "Take a seat, I have some important things to tell you." ... Right. Leaning back into her seat, she would stare into space before being interrupted by a familiar voice. Turning her head towards the owner the voice, it was no other than Kotsuzui. Whilst he posed some questions towards her, the girl would greet him with a slight nod and a small, but gentle smile and watched as he pulled out a seat and sat on it. "I'll answer all the questions you have when everyone is here," the girl would say after a few seconds. Her voice was calm, but wasn't monotonous as per usual. Today, she needed to be the adult and not the quite emotionless woman she usually is. As the boy sat down, she noticed that he was barefoot. Now, she usually doesn't mind it when people walk around barefoot because they should live their life however they want, right? But this time around, she thought it was important to address it: "If I take you out on a mission, please wear shoes. I don't want you getting acute injuries," The girl paused for a moment before continuing, "And yes, I know I can heal your injuries, but that is not the point here."

A few seconds later, Kisuke would arrive. She greeted him with a slight nod and a small, but gentle smile, just like how she greeted Kotsuzui. The kunoichi wrinkled her nose as the boy sat down; she could smell the smoke as per always. How lovely. Sitting up in her seat, she would await for the arrival of the last person: Kaze Uchiha, who should arrive any second from now..? Or mayb- Oh, over there. Her eyes darted towards the entrance of the cafe. A certain young, white-haired boy was making his way towards the group. Looks-wise, he was obviously younger than the rest of the group, but that wouldn't matter. As the boy sat down, the girl would greet him with a nod and a small, but gentle smile. Yes, blah blah; she didn't want to favor any of them particularly here. Moving on, the girl would take a good look at each of their faces. Here goes nothing. "Alright, to start off, I do have some important things to tell you," addressing the three, the girl would pause for a moment before continuing, "You may or may not have heard, but I'm here to officially inform you that Jin Yamanaka has died." The girl would sit in silence and allow the boys to let the news sink in. The way she had decided to phrase her sentence was quite similar to how Haru, a past sensei of hers, had phrased his; it was similar as to how he had told the news regarding Laruko's death. A few seconds passed before the girl addressed the three of them once more, "He died from a sudden cardiac arrest. The medical ninja did everything they could, but were unsuccessful." It was then followed by a long pause, "Due to this... Kaze Uchiha has been assigned to this team." The girl bit the tip of her tongue as the words flowed out of her mouth. That wasn't how she wanted to phrase it, but well... too late. The drawbacks of not having a brain to speech filter.

"You may ask me any questions you may have." The girl then fell into silence. Good job, Ayumi, you little insensitive idiot. How desensitized are you? You just delivered news regarding someone's death, for god's sake. She could hear her inner hey-you're-an-idiot voice's mockery after her bad attempt at delivering the news without sounding insensitive.

"Sure thing Sensei" Kotsuzui replied to Ayumi informing that he should wear shoes if they are to go on missions, "but I actually never wear shoes, so I'm quite use to going around without them." Kotsuzui slightly turned his head as he leaned forward on the chair to greet his fellow Uchiha teammate. "Kisuke" Kotsuzui said with a nod and sly grin spread across his face, "always a pleasure". While Kotsuzui sat with most of his team waiting on Jin, a pleasant surprise walked up to their table greeting their sensei and Kisuke. Looking up to the white haired new comer, Kotsuzui could not help but release a smile from his lips due to remembering the great spar he had with him. "Same old same old, still kicking ass, what bout you?" he responded to one of the only friends he had made in Konoha as he raised his fist up for a "fist bump". "Wait a minute, did he just called Ayumi his sensei?" Kotsuzui asked himself as he looked back over to Ayumi. Before he could say anything, Ayumi began.

"What?" Kotsuzui asked with a raised eyebrow as Ayumi presented them the bad news of Jin having died. "A heart attack?" Kotsuzui spoke, confused as to how someone so young could have died such a way. Maybe it was a problem that ran within the family? Thus age would be irrelevant. To be honest, Kotsuzui did not know much about Jin. They had only done one mission together, but the death of a fellow Konoha nin and one that he knew would always be hard news to take in. It was the first time Kotsuzui had to deal with death, so he did not know how to react except for doing one thing. The Kaguya called a waitress over before asking her for three cups. Once they arrived and the waitress was clear, Kotsuzui pulled out a bottle of sake and poured each one with the alcoholic contents. Whether the other three decided to have a drink or not was up to them, but he was doing this either way, even if Kaze had never met Jin. After everyone had time to react to the news, Kotsuzui would slightly raise his bottle while saying "A drink to our fallen comrade, Jin Yamanaka". Whether with the other three or not Kotsuzui would take a sip for the passing of his teammate, but he was hoping the others would take the drink with him. After taking his drink, he finish by saying "and to Kaze Uchiha, our newest teammate."430/670

Still slouched with arms crossed, Kisuke would lazily shift his eyes over to the newcomer, someone he had never seen before. Wondering why the kid was standing there, Kisuke would think to himself "This kid lost or something?" Remaining silent, Kisuke would wait for Ayumi to tell the kid to fuck off but instead he greeted her as "sensei." "Sensei? She has another student." Kisuke wondered as he looked over towards Ayumi, slightly confused. Kisuke was less surprised when Kotsuzui started talking to him like they were friends. The young Uchiha figured they had trained together or maybe met up at a bar. "Hope this kid isnt an alcoholic."

"Hey." Would be Kisuke's response to the newcomer as he patiently and silently waited for the purpose of this meeting to take place. When Ayumi finally spoke, Kisuke frowned in shock as he silently watched his sensei. "Dead?" He said out loud as he though to himself "That idiot is dead?" The news and the event itself were both very shocking. He was the youngest member of their three man team so the fact that he died from a heart attack was very shocking. Was his older sister not taking care of him? Kisuke was so shocked that he had no question or anything to say at all. He simply frowned and looked down at his out stretched legs, trying to fully grasp what he just herd. He was more shocked than he was sad about the death. Death as a shinobi was a normal part of life and something Kisuke didnt get too caught up over since it was a normal part of a shinobi's life however the randomness of this death was quite shocking.

Kisuke would grab a cup of sake as it arrived and lifted in toast with Kotsuzui for his fallen comrade. "To Jin, may he rest in peace." Taking the shot and sliding his cup across the table, Kisuke would say "So.." Kisuke started training to quickly start some sort of conversation so that there was no awkward silence. "Another Uchiha on our team. I though they were suppose to mix and match teams." Looking at Ayumi Kisuke continued "We lost a Yamanaka and he's replaced by another Uchiha. No offence," he quickly said to Kaze before continuing "But now we have two Uchihas. Were gonna have to do team work exercises..... again."

"Nothing new, just a bit of training." Kaze lightly tapped his fist against Kotsuzui's returning the gesture. The boy would have liked to chat a little bit with the Kaguya but that could wait for a more appropriate time. As he glanced around the table he saw that Ayumi was doing the exact same except it appeared she had something to say. The table was quiet as their sensei spoke, it turned out that Jin had been the third genin of the squad before Kaze and had recently died of a heart attack. It was a shock to the boy that someone who could not have been much older than him had passed away from a heart attack. Genetics must have played a part or maybe he was sick? Either way it was unfortunate, not that he had died, as a shinobi death is a very likely and expected end but to be taken by it at such a young age is what truly made this so sad.

The white haired boy remained quiet as his two new teammates both experienced the shock of the news. He was surprised as well but Jin's passing had less of an effect on him simply because the two had never been acquainted. Yes it was tragic that a fellow shinobi of the village had died but it would not be something the young boy would lose sleep over.

Silence followed Ayumi's words, honestly what could be said? Kaze was grateful for the drink, not for his sake but for those around him. Maybe it would ease their nerves although no one really seemed to be taking this too hard so this would probably only be seen as a way to show respect to the deceased. Regardless Kaze took the drink, it would be his first taste of alcohol. "To Jin."

A few seconds passed before Kisuke tried to break up the awkwardness of the situation, to his credit he at least gave it a shot. Albeit did not help much, one might say it just added to the awkwardness. "None taken." There was no need to be offended by Kisuke's statement. 'Team work exercises, I guess they can't be avoided if we are to be successful.' A soft, barely audible, sigh escaped the boy as the thought crossed his mind.

Glancing at each one of the faces of the three genin, the kunoichi licked her lips as Kotsuzui spoke. It was as if he was asking for reassurance as to whether Jin really did die due to a heart attack. Giving a small nod, the kunoichi stared at the table in front of her. To be honest, she didn't expect a heart attack to be his cause of death, considering the fact that he was only around her age. Genetics seemed to be the next best assumption. Whilst giving the issue some thought, Ayumi could hear the word 'Dead' come out of Kisuke's mouth; he had phrased the word out as a question. Automatically giving a nod, she lifted her head up and faced the three genin. Silence passed for what seemed like an eternity to her before Kotsuzui offered a drink in memory of Jin and also to welcome the newest addition to the team: Kaze. Judging from their reactions, they seemed to be coping much better than she expected. With that being said, she didn't expect them to bawl or anything... she just expected them to be a little more expressive than this. Oh well. At least she wouldn't have to deal with two (maybe three) boys freaking out over the death of their comrade. Um, that was quite insensitive of her to say such a thing considering the fact that Jin was her student, but ho- Okay, time to shut up.

Grabbing the cup, which had then been filled with sake, Ayumi was the last one to take a sip of the beverage. To Jin. May you rest in peace. Swirling the sake in her cup, she could hear Kisuke's voice break the silence, bursting her little bubble of thoughts. "Another Uchiha on our team. I though they were supposed to mix and match teams," said Kisuke. Setting her cup down, the kunoichi faced the boy in the eye. A few seconds would pass before she opened her mouth, "Hmm... How about you go ask the Hokage as to why he has decided to assign Kaze to the team." Turning towards Kaze, the girl would give him a small nod, "Welcome to the team. I see that you're getting along well with Kotsuzui, which is nice. Kisuke over here can be slightly hard-ish to work with at times, I guess... but you'll eventually get used to him." Leaning back into her seat, the kunoichi would study the each one of the faces in front of her before letting an inaudible sigh escape past her lips.

Kotsuzui could not help but smirk after Ayumi's remark about Kisuke going to see the Hokage on why we were assigned another Uchiha to the group. "Don't mind Kisuke" the Kaguya would add in, "he seems to have a problem with the whole world. Besides, maybe it'll be good to have another Uchiha around, show him how its done" Kotsuzui added as he glanced over to Kisuke with a smirk. "I think Kaze's a good addition as any. He did give me a run for my money, and I'm assuming he's only gotten better since then. Something I'd like to find out" looking over to Kaze. Maybe the two of them would get another chance to go at it some time. Kotsuzui then looked over to Ayumi as she sat back in her chair to study her three Genin's. Kiuske managed to change the conversation away from the death of their past teammate, so Kotsuzui was going to try and do the same.

"What's it take to become a Chuunin?" Kotsuzui would ask. "I'm ready and I think we have the team to do it, so why wait any longer? Whatever team exercises or preparations we gotta do I say we do them. What do you think?" finished the Kaguya, the question aimed at each one of them. 218/888